


Melting a Frozen Heart

by Amisbro



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Double Face - Freeform, M/M, Performance, Romance, Shounen-ai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 10:03:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9650942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amisbro/pseuds/Amisbro
Summary: Camus is the Count of Permafrost and Joshua is his Assistant but what happens when they start to realize their feelings for one another AND Joshua starts to really "get to know" Camus through one of his songs?  A very interesting transformation not just musically but personally and professionally!Please ENJOY!





	

It was a cold day in Tokyo and there was a gentle snowfall that had come into Tokyo overnight for the citizens of the city. It wasn’t a harsh winter morning that could face the city but just one of those that make you appreciate the beautiful things that “Old Man Winter” can give you for a present.

Sometimes however…there are things that you get that you treasure even more than that!

This was the case for the duo of Joshua and Camus and on this particular morning when Joshua would usually have been up at his usual 4 AM time to get things ready for the QUARTET NIGHT he was instead pinned down by a very gentle weight on his chest and one glance over at whom he was embracing told him everything he needed to know.

If you had told Joshua that he would be sharing a bed with the man that he considered one of his best bosses on the planet then he would have told you that you were nuts! He had a very deep admiration for Camus as an idol and a member of QUARTET NIGHT but feelings for the “Ice Prince” were NOT in his cards…at least…that is what he thought!

There have been people that tried to figure out how long something like this had been building and truthfully…Joshua could never answer this question because to do that he would have to fabricate a story or he would have to rely on Camus to tell them and neither was something he really WANTED to do because you see he liked being upfront and honest all the time and that is what earned him the respect of all the units between QUARTET NIGHT, STARISH and HEAVENS! He said the way he felt all the time and even if it caused problems for a little bit USUALLY the mature people listened and understood where he was coming from and the others…he just didn’t have time for anymore!

So what WERE the events that he could try to pinpoint the HOW he ended up like this? The best answer started after Triple S

—————————————————————————————————-

[ **FLASHBACK** ]

Triple S had been over for about a week at this point and Joshua…well he wasn’t happy but he tried to internalize it so he didn’t cause many issues with fans on all three sides. The problem with this was that anyone that knew Joshua knew that the longer he held it in the longer he was going to hurt until he just blew up completely and then all hell was gonna break loose because its known he has a mouth on him and NO ONE can check it nor does anyone try! Heck Camus stays clear until he finally calms down and then HE goes and makes the tea for them so that they can talk if he’s with QUARTET NIGHT and if its HEAVENS…Shion is actually really good for that when he goes and finds his headphones and makes sure that its nice gentle music for him to listen to. Basically both Units had their “Go To” guy if Joshua was feeling stressed and he always returned the favor if it was needed. In Camus’ case he felt it was only fair because of the times when Joshua would serve him and in his time of need he made sure to handle his issues personally.

What made this one especially interesting was that Joshua wasn’t “mad” about the outcome but it was more what Nagi and Shion diagnosed as “Aggressive Confusion” and this actually made sense to Kira who would keep watch over Joshua until he felt that things were better. Shion and Nagi agreed to help too because of how much the HEAVENS family cared about Joshua. If he was hurting they wanted to help him in any way that they could and they knew that poking this bear was NOT something you wanted to do because doing so could lead to serious problems!

Now I know what you are thinking

“But Joshua…how does this get us to Camus?”

Patience friendos…Rome was NOT built in a day!

Anyways after about 3 days where Joshua vented on social media and where Kira, Nagi and Shion came to double check on him he finally re-emerged proper (don’t worry he ate and showered and all) and apologized to everyone for the way he was acting but everyone understood. They were SO CLOSE AGAIN and they snatched defeat from the jaw of victory AGAIN and this time it was more painful because of a lot of things that happened in the buildup to Triple S…his anger was MORE THAN JUSTIFIED!

Well on this day when Joshua resumed his normal duties he wanted to see the schedule that they had coming up and Kira showed him on his tablet what was coming up and…of course there was an appearance with STARISH but he knew that he needed to be Pro for that so he kept his opinions in check and made sure to be ready for it.

When the time came to go to the event however…this is when a very unique set of events began to unfold!

It started at the show where it was shown that they were supposed to be on the air with STARISH much like when the Duet Project was announced. THIS TIME there was an unexpected change and STARISH got pulled from the show and in their place was QUARTET NIGHT. Wanna know what the “official” reason was?

“Shining was afraid it was going to cause a reaction with HEAVENS’ Manager”

Okay…that would be totally valid EXCEPT Joshua knew that he actually didn’t have issues with STARISH! Matter of fact in the days that Joshua holed himself up in his room he made sure to call Ren and Masa about 5 times to apologize but they understood perfectly! It was interesting too because while they couldn’t just drop out because of the situation they said they felt genuinely bad because “HEAVENS deserves a ‘True Happy Ending’”.

The point is that Shining COULD have sent Ren and Masa at the least (and Cecil too) but he chose not to and that ALMOST set Joshua off again but when he saw QN walk in he felt better actually. This was ESPECIALLY true when he saw Camus because in the back of his mind he wanted to just go work with them for a little bit and chill out but then again he also knew that working with Camus could be 24/7 and did he really need that?

WELL…

While the interview was going on Joshua stayed off the set because he opted out due to the fact he didn’t want to have a “flare up” on Live TV and this was respected by the hosts and the two units. Camus was concerned because he knew WHY Joshua was not participating in the interview and this actually worried him to the point that at one point in the interview he mouthed to Reiji that he “had to go take care of something” and Reiji assumed he meant something else but when he figured it out he let him go and then Reiji covered it up by saying that “Camus has an emergency and he needed to take care of it ASAP”. Now it should be obvious what was ACTUALLY going on but the hosts left it alone and Camus walked over to Joshua and this is when things started to get interesting.

See ordinarily Camus would have scolded someone for doing this at one of their gigs but the Count knew what was going on with Joshua because he got a text from Shion and even one from Kira about what was going on since the Entry Concert and he respected his position. It was scary for him to find out that Josh took the loss that hard that he basically isolated himself and he wished he had heard from HIM about it because had he would have brought him back to their place and he would have made sure things were alright before he went back to Raging and HEAVENS and he would have made DARN SURE that Raging treated them better! He still considered doing the latter because he wasn’t entirely happy about what happened and he knew that Joshua was sacrificing by working with them and he was sick of either President treating him in a way that he didn’t approve of!

ANYWAYS…

As the interview drew to a close Camus was supposed to go back with QUARTET NIGHT…that plan changed as he told HEAVENS that he was going to go with Joshua back to Raging’s office. He had some VERY PERSONAL BUSINESS to take care of when it came to Joshua’s health and also their own treatment!

Yeah…HEAVENS was about to gain a VERY STRONG ally and all they had to do (and did) was keep their mouths shut!

Wanna know how the meeting went? Let’s just say that when the term “Peasant” got used here it was in a way that COULD NOT BE MISTAKEN FOR ANYTHING LESS THAN AN INSULT!

Well first we got to talk about the trip there

Josh drove (because he drives himself everywhere…especially when he works with Camus) and the ride was deathly silent! Like that kind of silence that basically told you that SOMETHING was gonna go down and a head or two would roll if he didn’t get what he wanted. When Camus is in one of these moods there is basically one real option and the other is if you are just stupid!

\- Agree to Camus’ terms

OR

\- You learn what he can do with that Scepter and if he has to use it either you get froze up or he makes you suffer in agony which is a no win either way!

The duo made their way into the offices of the actual Agency and the poor security that even THOUGHT to deny access found out that when Joshua is there with Camus that things are GOING TO HAPPEN OR ELSE! Josh legit felt bad for the guards but at the same time they had stuff they needed to get done and you were NOT going to deny him or one of his employers access…that just don’t happen!

As the two made their way to Raging’s office Camus gave one specific order:

“DON’T come in!”

Josh has only ever been given that order one other time and when he got it he went to go the cafeteria cos he knew stuff was about to go down and he needed to just stay out of the way.

Suffice to say…that’s what he did when he went to go grab lunch and Camus had a nice LONG discussion with the “beloved” President

Now as I mentioned before…Camus wasn’t in the best of moods dealing with Raging. He had heard the rumblings about the physical abuse that Eiichi and his bro felt at the hands of the lunatic President and he wasn’t happy! While he admitted that he wasn’t a “perfect” boss to Raging the one thing he DID tell him was that he was TRYING to get better and its why he requested Joshua every so often so that he could work on things. In a way its because of him that the “Count” got kept under wraps in public!

Did Raging have a counter? Not really but he tried by saying that they were “His kids” and “His Property” and if you want to know what Camus can be like REALLY HOT then let’s just say if he threw the chair that Joshua could hear hit the door any HARDER then Otori was gonna be missing a door soon and that was something that he didn’t want!

One other thing though that Camus alerted Rage about was the fact that he was deeply concerned for Joshua’s mental state after the Triple S. He knew that Joshua took HEAVENS’ loss hard but he didn’t know necessarily ALL the details till a few days later and THAT was why they were there in the first place! It was at that time that Camus basically gave Raging an order

“Joshua comes with me or I rearrange this office so that you can’t fix it!”

Okay now…I know what you are thinking

“But…Joshua can already go if he wants to right?”

TRUTH…but the thing was for Josh that he never liked leaving HEAVENS alone to go work for Camus unless he had a reason to. Its sufficient to say that the previous events mentioned were a good enough REASON but well…you know? Joshua didn’t want to leave if he wasn’t comfortable but now it was to the point where a lot of people were concerned for him and the QUARTET NIGHT were concerned especially when Camus had to go check on him in the first place!

The long and short of it was that Joshua was basically TOLD that he was going back with Camus and that HEAVENS would be taken proper care of while he was away. He also told Joshua in a very interesting way that “You have a very good man here and not just as a boss either” which was was…odd wording to say the least but when Joshua put the dots together he started to understand things a little bit better. Its no secret to a lot of people that Joshua was very much fond of Camus and that in some ways he patterns himself as far as style of managing after Camus in the way he organizes things. The thing is here that Joshua wouldn’t necessarily be going to the QUARTET NIGHT complex to work unless he really wanted to. The order that was pretty much given was this

“You go there to recharge and when the time comes for you to come back to see us we’ll be waiting. You are a part of the HEAVENS family and we love and respect you for what you do for us here but you’re no good if you end up dead because you had a stroke due to being mad. Go and rest up and take care of yourself and I’m sure that your Boss here will see to that.”

With that statement…Joshua was free to go with Camus and QUARTET NIGHT and after they went and packed a few suitcases with some of his essentials (Camus had a setup for him in his room just in case something like this happened so he didn’t need his computer) then they left and Joshua waved “bye” to HEAVENS but he promised he would be back and he WOULD BE…but a changed man for the better!

When the two got back to the QUARTET NIGHT’s place Ai greeted them at the door and believe it or not he was actually very happy to see him again! Now this isn’t COMPLETELY unusual because Ai and Joshua got along great (actually he gets along with them all just fine) but he and Ai would sometimes spend hours analyzing the footage from a rehearsal to make sure that things went better the next time, and the time after that and after that and…you get the idea!

Ran was always happy to see Joshua because if there was one thing he always needed it was an honest opinion on the dishes he was making. The good news was that, even when he was BRUTAL at times, Joshua was so honest that he almost couldn’t ask anyone else to do it and this included Camus or Haruka which was strange cos he got along well with her so what gave you know?

Reiji was happy and I mean REALLY HAPPY to have Joshua back for a little while and, while this would NORMALLY get on Joshua’s nerves, he was very much happy to be back to see him again. Camus just told him to be careful with Joshua because while he was there to do some light work (Camus wasn’t gonna push him too hard with the tasks) he was mostly there to chill out and destress and if he needed to work on his laptop out in the living room to just let him be. Reiji didn’t even pout about it because he sort of already knew the situation so he let it be.

The rest of the day was just getting back in stride with everyone else and seeing what their schedule was going to be like. While Joshua promised he wasn’t going to work TOO HARD while he was there he wanted to earn his keep for sure and the crew would make sure that he did just that but mostly helping with the cooking and watching practices. This is what Camus basically told him he would be doing because he wanted him to NOT THINK too much about other stuff. The rest of QUARTET NIGHT didn’t object because, as we discussed, they knew Joshua’s situation and he only had to do the other things if he got bored enough. Camus needed him to destress before he even thought about going back to HEAVENS and that was first and foremost. I stress this because you have to understand how important a figure Joshua had become when he rose to a level of power in the industry and the fact that there were a lot of groups that wanted his services really showed how popular he was…QN and HEAVENS just didn’t want him to stretch himself too thin over it is all!

This was also stressed because the events of the next few days became very interesting for Joshua and QUARTET NIGHT but more importantly for himself and Camus!

Okay listen…Camus considers himself a “Ladies Man” and we can dig this right? The thing of it was that when he and Joshua were driving to go see Raging he immediately thought about WHY he was doing this and it hit him like a brick!

Its not often that Camus says he “cares” about a person…call it being “emotionally void” or whatever have you but Camus legitimately had told Joshua once that “Its impossible for someone like me to be in a relationship because I wouldn’t know how to handle being close to another person” and Joshua knew this was true! He was the personal escort for Camus and Haruka to a couple of functions and watching him TRY to be in any way close to Haruka was HARD and not just on the level of “Being the Count” but when they got time to be alone it was so painful that Josh had to find a way to stop the pain before it got worse! You think this is an exaggeration but it was one of the few times this self-professed “Ladies Man” was having issues and it legit depressed Josh for sure!

Now why do I bring this up? This is why

_3 Days later_

It was a really nice day out so Joshua had decided to go for a drive and he asked Camus where he and the rest of QN performed “KIZUNA” and Camus told him before he left for the day and then Joshua went on his trip after packing a “Lunch for one” which he rarely gets to do but sometimes its fun to just have a lunch that you know no one can complain about cos its all for you!

ANYWAYS

When he got to the beach with his lunch he did something that some would think is kind of “weird” but if you know how Joshua’s mind works it actually makes sense! He got out of the car with his lunch and then carefully climbed up onto the roof of his car and legit had his lunch up there! Some would think this is a little bonkers but then again when you understand how Joshua works on a GOOD DAY then its not that bad! What else was noteworthy was what he did after he ate!

He headed down to beach and then started randomly humming the melody to “Double Face” and then switched it into “Aurora” which was an interesting transition for sure! It got better when he started humming “The Dice are Cast” and then went into “Immortal Inferno” which was completely random but what he wasn’t expecting was what happened next!

Okay how to explain this…

One song that Joshua simply LOVES when Camus performs it is “Double Face”. Its one of his favorites because of the “unique duet” that Camus would do with himself and every so often when Joshua would have “alone time” he would try to imitate Camus’ pitch for his “idol side” because he was promised that IF he could ever get it right that they would perform the song together for one of the concerts with QN and STARISH coming up! Since Joshua was pretty much given time to just…be alone recently he figured he would attempt it again and again until he got it right!

Problem: He needed Camus to be there to help with half of it and well…he wasn’t there!

Or was he?

Randomly out of nowhere Joshua started at least humming the melody to see if he could remember how that half generally goes and to try and get the lyrical range down and he went over it at least 5 times before he started and the first time he could tell it wasn’t right so he stopped instantly! Each time after he could feel it was getting closer and closer and closer but that wasn’t THE ONLY THING getting closer!

Finally after a long time trying he actually was able to get it!

When Joshua thought no one was around he started singing the one half and from not too far behind him came that booming voice that Joshua knew well! Joshua didn’t get shook either and was able to continue with the song and Camus legit felt (and said so afterwards) that it felt like he was singing with a part of himself in another body! It was the most surreal thing he ever dealt with but at the same time he thought it was really darn cool and when the song finished Joshua realized how close they were and then turned and coughed to try and excuse himself but Camus knew what was happening in the strangest of ways…how to explain it to anyone else would be nearly impossible!

Later that night things got even crazier when unconsciously while talking with Reiji Josh slipped into that voice and Rei first looked at Ranmaru and then Ai and then he saw Camus who legitimately had that look like if his jaw could detach and smack the floor about 10 times it would have! Seriously Joshua was surprising everyone and then Rei KNEW they needed him at the concert and Camus agreed…especially doing the song he promised Joshua that they would do together!

What became more interesting was what happened 2 days later

Now its true that Camus has stated that it was HARD for him to develop feelings for someone and by “feelings” we mean “romantic feelings” but in this case here was Camus thinking about why he even asked for Joshua to become his Assistant back at the Shining Agency a few years ago and then there was how things were when he went on a personal vacation to Permafrost. Something stuck in his mind when he found out the reason why Joshua did that

“I wanted to see where you came from and I wanted to meet the people you ruled over with the Silk Queen. I figured if I did that I could better serve you as an Assistant but I could also start to connect with you better on a personal and emotional level. If I couldn’t do that then I failed and I don’t take failures well Boss so just know that!”

Yes you heard right…Joshua went to Permafrost to see if he could strengthen his connection to Camus outside of just serving him as his Assistant! When Camus heard that originally he had the same look of shock that he did now standing at the window of the QN’s place while also thinking about Joshua wanting to perform “Double Face”. Yes the song has a completely different meaning but Joshua was always about “transforming songs” and seeing what he could do to enhance them. Yes the song IS about both halves of Camus’ personality but he was watching Joshua not only perfect that song but legit “perfect HIM” in that he was getting to the point where he could switch that on if he ABSOLUTELY needed to! Josh promised not to do it unless someone was being a complete jerk though cos that would be a good head game for him to use!

What Camus was figuring out was that the way they were “bonding” wasn’t completely through actions…well okay it kind of was, but it was also through indirect methods that Joshua had used over the time that he got to know Camus and it was in that time that Joshua was learning something very important but the question in the Count’s mind was this

“Could he learn it WITH HIM?”

Their relationship was always an interesting one because when they worked together there was always “learning to do” and the big thing Joshua wanted to do was learn about Camus and, in his own way, find his way into his heart and mind. Little did Joshua realize that by doing that he was starting to…not “become” his boss but he was “inheriting” little things.

To Camus’ credit when he would see Joshua on his downtime he would see how he had fun and he would try his best to at least learn how to have “fun” with him (not like that kids…this is a family story) and Joshua always enjoyed seeing him try. It was sometimes hilarious the result but he did it simply because he wanted to understand how this young man wound down and in the process he started to learn how to have fun and not be completely serious 24/7! Their bond and relationship was becoming far more than just “Boss/Assistant” but it was becoming more and Camus was realizing this when he watched Joshua working on personal projects away from the studio like when he and Ran would do some cooking and it was all good! Interestingly enough watching Joshua have all this fun in a way made him start to really examine himself more but it also was making Joshua want to go back to work with Camus too! It was interesting how this free time that he was getting (and him STILL practicing “Double Face”) was really positively affecting not just THEM but QN as a whole!

But the biggest change wouldn’t be seen until the HEAVENS/QN concert!

Okay so how do I explain THIS?

So the night of the concert with HEAVENS everyone was there right on time (Joshua made sure that HEAVENS was there on time cos he knows how Eii is) and they went through the setlist for the night and Josh asked if a song could be moved to the end and when he explained what song and why they agreed to it because they wanted to see this for themselves and the story that they were going to tell with it!

The concert went off without a hitch and HEAVENS did “Immortal Inferno” as their finishing song but then Eiji went and personally introduced the final song for the evening

“Ladies and Gentlemen. The final song this evening tells the story about how two halves become one. The ‘Ying and Yang’ of a person as well as the good and bad when it unites. Its going to also tell the story in this case of how two people over time started far apart but have grown so close together that it’s a bond that cannot nor WILL IT be broken! One of our own has said that this song helped him grow closer to someone that he truly cares about and we respect this about him. Ladies and Gentlemen performing ‘Double Face’ here is Camus of the QUARTET NIGHT and our friend Joshua. Good night and take care!”

When the song started the crowd was a little confused but then they saw the jackets that the two men were wearing and without having to hear the rest of the song they just looked at Joshua and Camus and smiled…this is what Eiji meant!

The duo started far apart from each other but as they continued the crowd watched them drift closer and closer together and then they REALLY figured it out! Through the things that Joshua has inherited from Camus and Camus from Joshua these two “halves” have started to become one and as the song was nearing its end and the crowd watched them face each other performing the final chorus they knew something that it was going to take some in QN a LITTLE time to clue in on but the good news was…it didn’t take long!

As the song finished Joshua did the one thing he NEVER thought he would do on a stage: He kissed Camus on the lips and smiled before uttering the following words

“I know we are boss and employee but Camus…I love you and that means more to me than anything else in the world right n—“ Joshua was cut off by Camus returning the favor and let’s just say a few fangirls were getting out the cameras to catch this moment! OH DID THEY HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO!

After this moment a lot of things changed but one thing didn’t the respect that HEAVENS had for Joshua because this took A LOT of courage and they were happy as all heck for him!

[ **END FLASHBACK** ]

—————————————————————————————————-

When Joshua remembered that moment he couldn’t help but smile because he knew how important it was for them. Camus had told him once before that he wished they could evolve their relationship and now they were taking that step! When they went and talked to the rest of QN and then also HEAVENS not long after the PDA they were given their blessings because they knew how important it was for them.

One thing was for sure though

Reiji had wondered some time before Joshua came back to the QN’s place if it was possible to “melt a frozen heart” as cold as Camus’…this was proof positive that it COULD be done and he was happy to prove it to him!

Joshua and Camus were together again and as the Assistant looked over one more time at Camus’ sleeping face he couldn’t help but smile

“Good Morning Camus…may today be as blessed as our lives. I love you and never forget that!”

[END]


End file.
